Mesh networks are composed of two or more electronic devices, each containing at least one transceiver. The electronic devices use their transceivers to communicate with one another and/or a central device. If a device wishes to communicate with another device that is out of transmission range, the device may communicate via multi-hop communication through other devices. In a frequency-hopping (or channel-hopping) mesh network, devices communicate using different frequencies/channels at different times. To communicate a packet, a transmitter-receiver pair must be configured to the same channel during packet transmission. For a transmitter to communicate with a receiver at an arbitrary time in the future, the transmitter and receiver must synchronize to a channel schedule that specifies what channel to communicate on at what time.
Low power and Lossy Networks (LLNs), e.g., sensor networks, have a myriad of applications, such as Smart Grid and Smart Cities. Various challenges are presented with LLNs, such as lossy links, low bandwidth, battery operation, low memory and/or processing capability, etc. Generally, existing systems perform clear channel assessments for network transmissions toward a destination, such that in response to detecting a busy channel during the assessment, the devices in the system can set a backoff timer and attempt the transmission at a later time, thus avoiding collisions with neighboring transmissions. Moreover, certain systems are also configured to decrease network latency that occurs due to retransmissions by maintaining alternate next-hop routes for use when a primary route is unavailable.